Word: space
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Half a world away, the American space scientists who had sent Skylab aloft six years ago were calling themselves lucky, too. Although the 77.5-ton craft presumably broke into some 500 pieces, including two weighing about two tons each, there were no reports of anyone's being hurt. That was mainly because Skylab, pretty much on its own, had re-entered the earth's atmosphere while on an orbit that carried the craft over Canada, Maine, and the Atlantic and Indian oceans, posing minimal danger to the world's most populated areas. Despite months of meticulous planning...
There was, nevertheless, plenty of suspense as Skylab slipped ever closer to its doom. The craft was monitored by the worldwide network of NASA and NORAD's space-tracking stations. From NORAD'S underground headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., calculations about the craft's flight were transmitted to the Skylab Control Center at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center near Houston. There Charles Harlan, the Skylab flight director, estimated the vehicle's probable reentry point, and the possible dangers. He, in turn, was responsible for advising the Skylab Coordination Center at NASA headquarters in Washington whether...
...where the satellite was first likely to re-enter the atmosphere were slightly wrong. Instead of over the middle Atlantic, as expected, Skylab could begin breaking up over Canada, endangering the Montreal area and parts of Maine. Harlan got permission from Washington to cause Skylab to tumble in space, which would delay its impact with earth by about 30 minutes...
...space station proved more durable than expected. To the astonishment rf the controllers, the craft still was sending out signals when it came within range )f the NASA station on Ascension Island in the Atlantic. Said Harlan: "I got to thinking that we couldn't kill the thing " Soon, however, the signs of deterioration were clear. At a height of 69 miles over the ocean, some of Skylab's batteries registered a temperature of 100° F far above the normal 60° F. Then the radio signals faded, and finally stopped. Breakup had begun, and the projected...
...levels, and so on, they were still operating in September 1977 when it was decided that we couldn't afford to pick up the signals. So the instruments were turned off. Only a few scientists were upset; no one else cared one way or the other. Welcome to the Space...